The Communication Habit

February 10, 2020
Katen (How to Communicate with Confidence, Clarity, and Credibility), president of professional development training company Katen Consulting, offers a stale guide for any businessperson looking to communicate more effectively. Offering plenty of questions intended to elicit self-reflection (“How can you be sure you’re being perceived the way you want by your leadership, if you’re not sure how your leadership is perceiving you?”), Katen encourages readers to ask themselves if their self-presentation may be undermining their career. If the answer is yes, she urges her audience to examine what success-deadening attributes they may be unconsciously projecting. She walks readers through understanding the nuances of how other people perceive them, what they have control over, and how they can influence their reputation. Some of the topics covered include cultivating a positive first impression (the “four core areas” of which are appearance, communication, interaction style, and etiquette); getting one’s word in edgewise during meetings; building credibility; modulating voice, tone and gestures; cultivating gravitas; and correcting misperceptions. There’s also a helpful discussion on communicating across different cultures and countries. However, this otherwise superficial and obvious compilation of advice adds little new to the conversation.